State v. Younts, ___ N.C. App. ___, 803 S.E.2d 641 (Jul. 18, 2017)

In this DWI case to which the amended version of Evidence Rule 702 applied, the court held that a trial court does not err when it admits expert testimony regarding the results of a Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test without first determining that HGN testing is a product of reliable principles and methods as required by subsection (a)(2) of the rule. Evidence Rule 702(a1) obviates the State’s need to prove that the HGN testing method is sufficiently reliable.